Tutoring Services at STLCC: Boost Your Grades With Extra Help

April 03, 2025

Posted by STLCC in Student Resources 

“My grades in psychology started to get better, and I developed better studying techniques and better time management.” That’s how Jarvis Mccaston Wright’s “happily ever after story” ended thanks to help from St. Louis Community College’s Academic Support and Tutoring Center.

Ignore the Stigma Surrounding Going to Tutoring

Like any good story, the dual enrolled student’s began with conflict, a tussle in Psychology 200.

Initially the Ritenour High School junior, who takes the course at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, was unsure about stepping foot in the academic success and tutoring office.

Fear gripped him along with embarrassment, because his classmates would see him getting help.

“I started to stop feeling that way after I saw progress, and I eventually saw tutoring is not for people who are struggling – it's to help people become better at studying, better at time management and helping the person better themselves in that subject,” he said.

“Now, I don't think receiving tutoring in the slightest makes you ‘less smart.’ I think the people who don't seek it out may be.”

Cindy Clausen, academic success and tutoring manager, knows about the stigma attached to coming to tutoring all too well. Her specialty is education, public service and social sciences; industrial occupations, business and culinary.

It’s wrong to think people need tutoring because they aren’t smart or have performed badly in a class.

Clausen said in college and many other countries like Japan, students go to tutoring because they want to excel.

She said another reason students shun help is because they are busy and don’t see tutoring as something worth the time.

“Students who don’t think they have time for tutoring should consider research indicating that working with others is a more effective way to learn,” Clausen said. “Spending one focused hour studying with a tutor or even a classmate is of higher value, in most cases, than spending two hours studying on your own. Even if you can’t make time to meet regularly with a tutor, meeting with a coach to learn effective study methods is well worth the time spent.”

Timing Is Critical When it Comes to Seeking Tutoring Help

According to Clausen, if students would spend an hour a week with a coach the first four to six weeks of the semester, they would be amazed at how much it would impact their success.

“Most students come to AS and T after they have failed a test or been encouraged by a professor to get help after poor performance on tests or assignments. We are happy to help these students, but we encourage students to come to coaching before they are struggling,” she said.

“Just as athletes practice and work out weeks before competition, student preparation begins long before the first exam.”

That’s right, Clausen describes herself as a coach of sorts.

“I think of myself as a learning coach, like a coach for basketball or soccer, but instead of coaching sports, I coach people to be better readers, test takers and learners. Tutors are experts in specific subjects helping students work through hard-to understand concepts,” she said.

“Academic success and tutoring managers hire tutors who love their subjects and are motivated to help others. Then we train those tutors to go beyond being content specialists to become coaches who help students apply good learning strategies that they can use the rest of their lives.”

Archers don’t need to struggle in any subject, she explained.

“Students in any major can benefit from meeting with an academic coach. In addition, working with writing or communication tutors to discuss assignments from any class can improve your skills in written and oral communication, which is vital for any field you choose to enter,” she said.

When and how to get Free Tutoring on Campus or Online

Tutoring is free to Archers whether they physically come to campus for a session or get a hand online.

Students should drop in to the:

• Library, Room 120 at STLCC-Forest Park, located at 5600 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, MO, 63110 Instructional Resources and/or the Library in Room 113 at STLCC-Florissant Valley, located at 3400 Pershall Road, Ferguson, MO 63135.
• Student Center, Room 123B at STLCC-Meramec, located at 11333 Big Bend Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122.
• Student services area at STLCC-South County, located at 4115 Meramec Bottom Road, St. Louis, MO 63129.
• Student services area at STLCC-Wildwood, located at 2645 Generations Drive Wildwood, MO 63040.

Archers can email tutoring@stlcc.edu or make appointments in person or online through the Navigate app. Free assistance is also always available through the Tutor.com link in Canvas

Tutoring is available Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Contact STLCC-South County at the email provided above for more information about hours as this campus does not follow this schedule. STLCC-Wildwood is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

For Jarvis Mccaston Wright, making tutoring his first stop when he came to campus, even before heading to class helped him end his psychology woes.

“I would sit with a tutor for an hour a day before I got to my first class, and we would go over whatever I liked or felt uneasy about. I've booked my appointment about one time and it was fairly easy, all you would have to do is go to Navigate and follow the website from there, but with the tutoring center you can always drop in or at the end of a session you could ask your tutor to book your next appointment,” he said.

Clausen is glad he got over his fears. Mccaston Wright became a regular visitor and even a tutor.

“He had always gotten good grades in high school, and was doing well in his college ethics course, but his study strategies were not working for psychology. I was impressed with Jarvis’s willingness to try different note-taking and reading strategies. Still, at midterms, he seriously considered dropping the course, not wanting a low grade to impact his GPA. I encouraged him to stick with it, because I saw how his understanding was improving even if his test scores continued to be low. We focused more on how he was thinking about test questions and he began to do better. Jarvis worked hard and stuck with it. He passed the course and built confidence in his ability to persevere,” she said.

“Based on his success in his first two classes and his kind and helpful manner, we hired Jarvis to work as a peer coach for ethics, which he earned an A grade in last semester.”

While coming to tutoring won’t necessarily end with a gig for everyone, Clausen said she and her academic success and tutoring staff strive to make tutoring fun. She even promises a unique treat to the students she works with.

“When a student who has studied with me returns after doing well on a test, my favorite thing is to publicly spike a football really hard. It’s a sight to behold, and I refuse to be embarrassed,” Clausen said.

“You earned it!”

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